


Skating

by rymyanna



Series: Wandering The Woods [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Companionable Snark, Developing Relationship, First Dates, Ice Skating, M/M, Other, Triangle Bill Cipher, Weird Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 12:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5417216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rymyanna/pseuds/rymyanna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An exploration of some mysterious ice turns out to be something else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skating

**Author's Note:**

> For BillDip Week, day 3, Ice Skating. My attempt at getting some emotional intimacy going on between an awkward paranoid nerd and a demon. (posting early because reasons)

"This is a bad idea."

"Pfft, all my ideas are great!"

Dipper stared at the floating demon. Bill stared back. Staring contests with Bill never worked in Dipper's favor.

"We both know that's not true," he stated, turning back towards the ice field in front of them. Ice in winter wasn't unusual but a smooth surface of it where trees used to grow was disconcerting. 

"It'll be fine! Nothing bad can happen to you."

Dipper stopped his exploration of the scene to run Bill's words through his mind a couple of times. His cheeks were flushed from the cold.

"Are you saying you'll protect me?"

Bill blinked in a slow, deliberate manner Dipper had learned to interpret as a wink. He fiddled with the laces of his ice skates. "Right." He hadn't had much practice ice skating and how red his face was from the wind wasn't helping his mood any. He sat on a snow covered rock to change out of his shoes. Despite how awkward he felt, he wanted to look around the ice and skates were best for getting around. Provided he wouldn't fall on his ass. Getting on the ice and the first glide was shaky.

"Need a hand?" Bill hovered by him, amused.

"No, no, I've got this." Being pushed and prodded was the last thing he needed.

"You sure? Doesn't look like it."

"And you're an ice skating expert now?"

"I'm an expert on everything!"

Without further warning, Dipper was gliding across the ice. He yelped in surprise and flailed his arms. It was a miracle he didn't fall. "Billstopnonono!"

The demon laughed. "Relax, kid! Falling will hurt less that way."

Dipper almost lost his balance. "Falling?! That wouldn't even be an issue if you didn't-!"

"Wow, hey, coherent sentences! Not fast enough for you, Pine Tree?"

"No! I mean yes! The speed is fine!"

Bill shrugged, floating backwards in front of Dipper. "Good! I say we look over there next."

They made a sharp turn that had Dipper struggling for balance again. He cursed Bill under his breath but curiosity won over anger. He peered over the icy expanse.

The trees were gone. They weren't lying on the sides of the field or under the ice; there would be telltale lumps of felled tree trunks.

"I wonder what happened to the trees," he said, not so much in hopes of a real answer as to break the silence. Bill wasn't talking. Bill talked non-stop; something was up.

The demon stared at him for a few seconds longer before replying, "Maybe they moved out of the way."

Dipper considered it. The forest was thick around them. "I suppose that's possible."

The following silence was longer but not unpleasant. They covered a lot of ground in a short time, and Dipper had to admit (silently, in his mind) that gliding along aided was more efficient than learning how to skate on short notice. Once he relaxed and leaned into the force pushing him, finding and keeping his balance was easy.

Bill was still staring at him. Dipper knew he didn't need to keep eye contact to use his limited influence on reality so what the hey?

"Uh, Bill? Is there something you want to tell me?"

"There's lots of things I want to tell you! Like remember that time I helped you track down the missing griffin?"

"'Helped' is such a strong word."

Bill ignored him. "Those tracks we found? They belong to something much worse!"

Dipper filed that away for later. "So you've been silently staring at me is because of some tracks?" He didn't believe that for a second.

"What, you want me to tell you it's because of your pretty face?"

Said face got warm, for some reason. "N-no! And my face isn't pretty, it's handsome."

"Hah! You're all red!" Bill poked Dipper on the cheek. "I don't get human beauty standards, anyway. You're all squishy and confused to me." He rubbed under his eye. "Although, you are a bit less confused than the rest, I suppose." 

About to point out that "confused" wasn't a physical attribute, Dipper stopped short. His mouth opened and closed. That wasn't a conversation he wanted to have with Bill. The demon had admitted that he was a little bit attractive, for a human, and that was a can of potential worms he didn't want open. He was probably looking too deep into it, as it was. Seeing more in the statement than there was.

He maintained awkward (for him) eye contact. Bill waved at him.

Definitely imagining meaning where there was none.

Dipper rubbed the back of his head. "You, uh, you have a very efficient shape, too."

Images flashed on Bill's surface. Symbols, a severed human heart. Dipper did his best to ignore it.

"Aw, kid, you're so sweet! Who knew you'd be such a charmer?"

"You did. You know everything," Dipper deadpanned. They were back to trying to get at each other through words. Good.

To his surprise, Bill changed to topic, "Are you as bored with this as I am, or do you wanna explore more?"

Dipper took another look around. "Bored, but I also want to explore. It doesn't seem sinister, like it's not spreading or anything. I still want to figure out what caused it, though." When he faced Bill again, the demon wasn't looking back. "Nothing's stopping you from leaving." Something was going on. The whole thing had been weird from the beginning but he had ignored it, his curiosity outweighing his suspicion. The ice was strange but Bill's behavior was stranger. And not in the patented Bill brand weird chaos way, either. That would have been comforting, familiar. This was unnerving.

"Soo," Dipper stared. He knew he was repeating himself but maybe this time he'd get an actual answer. "What's up?"

Bill crossed his tiny arms, still looking away. "Why does something have to be up? Can't we just go places and do stuff without you assuming I'm up to something? I mean, I am, but for once it has nothing to do with your miserable human existence."

The demon was pouting. What.

"Wait, so you brought me here for the sole purpose of hanging out with me?" Though, Dipper supposed that's what they had been doing for some time now. Usually, they just bumped into each other or Dipper went looking for the demon, but this time Bill had come to him.

"There's nothing weird about this ice, is there."

Bill waved his hand. "It's 'naturally' occurring. The trees look out for it, some deer slip and fall. There's some leftover ice magic from a thing thousands of years ago. Don't let it occupy too much of your limited head space."

"You wanted to take me ice skating?" It didn't compute.

"That was all you, I just took you here."

"Right." He needed a moment. "Okay, that's... Is this a- never mind." The situation was a new flavor of weird but he wasn't actively freaking out. Dipper took that to mean that he had whatever this was under control. Sort of.

"That's, yeah, that's fine."

Bill turned his unblinking stare on him, finally. Dipper didn't quite meet it.

"So, do you wanna get out of here? I'll make hot chocolate and we can watch some bad horror movies or something?"

"Yes."


End file.
